PLATE 4

CORNICE MOULDING

From a Tomb in the Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo

THE tomb from which this moulding is taken stands opposite that of Marco Giustiniani, in a small chapel on the south side of the choir. It bears the recumbent statue of a knight in chain armour, rudely cut, but fine in expression; it has no inscription, but the Loredano shield is sculptured on the brackets which support it. It is evidently work of the early part of the fourteenth century, and the moulding is given as an example of one of the earliest and purest forms of the Venetian Gothic cornice. The reader will recognise, beneath it, the “Gabled Dentil,” already described in Chap. 23 of the text¹, and figured generically in Plate IX., Fig. 20. It is found on nearly all the tombs of this period.

The moulding is here given of its actual size;² and though the drawing looks coarse when seen close, yet if placed at the distance of fifteen or twenty feet, it will give very nearly the true effect of the sculpture itself, which was intended to be seen at that distance. The irregularities in the disposition of the leaves are faithfully copied; and the profile of the moulding will be given in its proper place.³ It belongs to the group represented by Fig. 9, Plate XV. (text).⁴

¹ [i.e., vol. i. of Stones of Venice: see Vol. IX. p. 318.]

² [Here reduced from 18½ x 11 to 7 x 4¼.]

³ [The publication of the Examples was suspended before this was given.]

⁴ [See Vol. IX. p. 360.]

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[Version 0.04: March 2008]